From the Bookshelf of Science and Inquiry…

The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God

Carl Sagan,

Ann Druyan (Editor)

Start date: November 1, 2010

Finish date: December 1, 2010

Discussion: Book Club 2010 & Prior

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Book Club 2010 & Prior

March Book Club "A Short History of nearly Everything"
By William · 14 posts · 147 views

last updated Aug 06, 2014 12:20PM

November 2010 - Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End / The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God
By S. · 62 posts · 80 views

last updated Apr 19, 2012 04:58PM

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What Members Thought

Oct 16, 2010 David Rubenstein rated it it was amazing

Shelves: religion, astronomy, science

It has been many years since I last read any of Carl Sagan's books. This book was a delightful surprise. Easy to read, very thoughtful, and quite entertaining. In a nutshell, Sagan does not come out and say "there is no god." Instead, he simply says that there is no physical evidence for the existence of a god. ...more

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Sep 04, 2014 Stefany GG rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, thinkful

Me gusta cuando transcriben las conferencias de los grandes pensadores a modo de libro, de esta forma están a tu alcance y te permiten formar parte de ellas aunque no estuviste ahí.

Carl Sagan fue un gran visionario y siempre quiso difundir el conocimiento y la curiosidad como un modo a partir del cual podemos hacernos una mente crítica y valorar lo importante que es indagar más sobre las cosas, formando un entendimiento basado en la ciencia y una continua búsqueda de la verdad. Hace observacion ...more

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Dec 04, 2011 David S. T. rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science, religion

This book is a transcript of Sagan's Gifford lectures from 1985, where Sagan discusses his views on the question of if there is a deity. According to Druyan (from the appendix), she felt the need to publish these now with the growing “extreme fundamentalism violence” and when the United States is in a state of “phony piety”. No doubt this was also published because of the growing market for atheist literature. I think its pretty lucky though that Sagan did the lectures 25 years ago and they seem This book is a transcript of Sagan's Gifford lectures from 1985, where Sagan discusses his views on the question of if there is a deity. According to Druyan (from the appendix), she felt the need to publish these now with the growing “extreme fundamentalism violence” and when the United States is in a state of “phony piety”. No doubt this was also published because of the growing market for atheist literature. I think its pretty lucky though that Sagan did the lectures 25 years ago and they seem less agenda driven and far more tolerant towards people of beliefs. I think this distance from the growing new atheist segment is where this book really shines, its far less than an anti-religious polemic but more of a discussion about why when Sagan looks up at night he doesn't see the work of a interventionist deity.

As for the book itself, a major reason Sagan doesn't believe in a god is because of the vastness of space. I can see his point, take a minute watch a youtube video or get a book such as Sizing up the Universe which shows the sizes of the planets relative to the sun and the sun relative to some of the large stars. The earth is just a minor spec in our solar system and our solar system is just a spec in our galaxy and out galaxy is just one of hundreds of billions of galaxies. It definitely puts things into a different perspective, it could cause a loss of faith, if everything was created by a deity and humans were the culmination of creation, then everything else sure seems like a waste. Of course to a theist this could have the opposite effect and confirm how magnificent god is, it all depends on your mindset.

The book is far more than just this one argument though and I don't want to list them all out now. I enjoyed it a bunch, I really liked the Q&A where Sagan was questioned by theists and while disagreeing with them, he seemed to at least respect their opinion and give real answers. This is the least offensive agnostic/atheist book I've read. As for the arguments and book itself, I previously read Pale Blue Dot which contained many of the same arguments (although not as focused), and really if you've read that much of this is redundant (and besides that's a better book all around). ...more

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Oct 06, 2008 Amanda L rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction, our-collection-need-more-shelves, history, yay-science, philosophy-once, astro, 2008, to-read-again, pettest-of-pets, cover-art-boom

One of my all-time favorites. Love Carl Sagan.

This is actually a series of his lectures on natural theology, hence the title, but do not be fooled - it is all scientific inquiry and little to no metaphysics or religion. For such a lengthy lecture series, it is quite logical and really does read like a book. It even includes visual charts, photographs, etc. It really put very basic concepts of the universe and astrophysics that I've always struggled with fully understanding into perspective for m ...more

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Feb 09, 2009 Max Maxwell rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 50-book-challenge-2009-failed-48, religion-and-atheism, general-science

Carl Sagan is and will likely always be my greatest hero, he who both understood science better than anyone else (even that inimitable popularizer of science, Isaac Asimov, said of Sagan, "He's one of the few people I've met that are just plain smarter than me), and also understood the spiritual, ecological, and political implications of science better than anyone else, too (Albert Einstein and Richard Dawkins being, to my mind, his only immediate peers in this regard); to find both in one perso Carl Sagan is and will likely always be my greatest hero, he who both understood science better than anyone else (even that inimitable popularizer of science, Isaac Asimov, said of Sagan, "He's one of the few people I've met that are just plain smarter than me), and also understood the spiritual, ecological, and political implications of science better than anyone else, too (Albert Einstein and Richard Dawkins being, to my mind, his only immediate peers in this regard); to find both in one person is rare.

This is a must-read book as far as I'm concerned; it reads like a PowerPoint presentation condensing the whole of Sagan's philosophy, as espoused in meatier books like The Demon-Haunted World , into a bulletin list. Indeed, that's pretty much exactly what it is: the transcript of some of his lectures on theology, complete with Q&A session and the slides as colour illustrations. Sagan goes over his views on the universe and the beauty of its immensity and complexity; his reasons for being an avowed agnostic, despite a deeply-held fascination with, and respect for, the world's religions; his fear of nuclear war and his uncertainty that we, as a species, will avoid it; and his assertion that science is a deeply fulfilling enterprise, all with characteristic wit and flare.

If you're looking for a religion-bashing read, say, something along the lines of PZ Myers's Pharyngula blog, you won't find it here. Indeed, when John Maynard Smith declared that Newton was the last of the mystics, not the first of the scientists, he may as well have been expressing something similar about Sagan. There's something expressedly, oh, I don't know, Kabbalistic about this book, as though Sagan were a secular guru or sage or yogi. He would probably object to the thought, but it's just how I feel about it.

Highly recommended. Oh, and by the way, Ann Druyan (that's pronounced DREE-yun, his wife, and a brilliant scientist in her own right) provides an introduction that is, in some ways, the best part of the book. ...more

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Jun 23, 2009 Tracy Black rated it it was amazing

Wonderful book! Carl Sagan was a much gentler atheist than Dawkins or Harris. It was so refreshing to hear an atheist discuss religion without a condescending tone. Sagan never once condemned religion. He approached the subject respectfully and scientifically.

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